Chris Christie

Re "Christie has words for California," Aug. 28 That was a whale of an insult spouted by the governor of New Jersey and keynote speaker at the Republican Convention, Chris Christie, calling Gov. Jerry Brown "an old retread. " Christie faults Brown for not raising taxes and instead allowing the voters to decide. But isn't this what the Republicans have been calling for? Getting government off our backs and letting people take care of their lives? William Landau Los Angeles ALSO: Letters: Cracks in the city's sidewalk plan Letters: Ron Paul and an unwelcoming GOP Letters: Who's to blame for Rachel Corrie's death?

April 9, 2014 | By Joseph Tanfani, This post has been updated, as indicated below.

Two former aides to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie don't have to turn over their emails and other documents, a New Jersey judge ruled Wednesday, dealing a serious setback to a state legislative committee's effort to answer the questions surrounding September's deliberate traffic jam at the George Washington Bridge. Bridget Anne Kelly, the former deputy chief of staff who seemed to sign off on the bridge plan, and former Christie campaign manager Bill Stepien, once one of the governor's closest political advisors, are in the sights of an FBI investigation into the bridge closures -- and thus shielded by the Fifth Amendment from having to turn over potentially incriminating evidence, Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson ruled.

Just one week after announcing he would not run for president, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is endorsing Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination, sources confirm. Christie will attend Tuesday night's Republican debate in New Hampshire as Romney's guest. The Romney campaign had announced the former Massachusetts governor would address supporters this afternoon with a "special guest. " When he reaffirmed his decision not to be a presidential candidate, Christie had suggested he was not likely to endorse one of the official candidates soon.

TRENTON, N.J. - Gov. Chris Christie said Friday that the chairman of the authority that controls the George Washington Bridge has resigned, and Christie vowed to reform the agency in the wake of the scandal over a politically-motivated traffic jam. Attorney David Samson, a close ally of Christie and a fixture in New Jersey politics for decades, submitted his resignation effective immediately, Christie announced as he met reporters at the State House...

September 30, 2011 | By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times / for the Booster Shots blog

Straight-talking New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is a portly guy -- and has spoken publicly in the past about his struggles with the scale. Now that he might be a contender for Republican nominee for president, other people are speaking publicly about his weight, too, and what impact it might have on his electability next November. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson wrote that the governor needed to lose weight for his (and the country's) health . Others complained that an inability to lose weight was a sort of failure of character . Still others rushed to the would-be candidate's defense, writing that fretting over Christie's weight had more to do with prejudice than with real concerns about politics.

If some conservatives believe Rick Perry is soft on illegal immigration, what would they make of Chris Christie's statement three years ago asserting that undocumented immigrants aren't criminals? In 2008, when Christie was the U.S. attorney in New Jersey, he told a church forum that “being in this country without proper documentation is not a crime.” Christie, who was appointed to that position by President George W. Bush, went on to say that an immigrant lacking documents is a civil wrong.

Re "Emails link Christie aide to scandal," Jan. 8 New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie denies direct responsibility for the retaliatory traffic jam in Fort Lee, whose mayor refused to endorse the governor for reelection. Christie may say the traffic tie-up was the action of rogue staff, but he must accept responsibility for presiding over a moral swamp in which such a vicious scheme would even be considered. The GOP's dirty tricks go back to Richard Nixon. The catalog of uncivil Republican actions demonstrates a lack of consideration for the interests of the American people: holding up important nominations, shutting down the government, threatening to default on the debt and doing everything possible to undermine healthcare reform (and having the chutzpah to complain about its implementation)

TAMPA, Fla. -- Ann Romney's personal testimonial on behalf of her husband at the Republican convention Tuesday “freed me up” to make a broader case against Democrats, Chris Christie said Wednesday. The New Jersey governor reflected on his keynote address at a breakfast hosted by the New Hampshire and Pennsylvania delegations, and seemed aware of chatter that his remarks were disproportionately focused on his own record and not the candidate his party had nominated just hours earlier.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is the man of the hour thanks to his administation's alleged involvement in a traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge in September. You might think that aside from his news conferences, the only place Christie should be appearing these days is on serious news programs, not late-night TV. Yet, somehow, "Late Show" host David Letterman claimed to have Christie himself (a one-time guest) on the phone on Thursday night. And yes, at first, it sounded like Letterman did indeed have the embattled governor on the horn.

If Chris Christie's insistence that he didn't order his aides to snarl traffic on the George Washington Bridge sounds familiar, it should. Think Shakespeare. More specifically, think "Richard II. " Reading the emails sent by Christie's aides and appointees, I couldn't help but think about the scene in which Sir Pierce of Exton has a conversation with an unnamed servant. They've both heard King Henry IV express what sounds like a wish to have the imprisoned former king, Richard, executed.

An internal review by a team of lawyers hired by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie concluded that the governor's aides came up with the idea to close off the access lanes to the George Washington Bridge on their own, without the governor or other staffers knowing about it. “We found that Gov. Christie had no knowledge beforehand of this George Washington Bridge realignment and that he played no role whatsoever in the decision or the implementation of...

Lawyers hired by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have cleared him of wrongdoing in the massive traffic jam at the foot of the George Washington Bridge, concluding that it was just one more “crazy idea” by one of Christie's loyalists, motivated by a deep and mysterious grudge against a Democratic mayor. The report, immediately dismissed by Democrats as an attempt to extricate Christie from a political jam, had some fresh revelations: It said David Wildstein, who ordered the four-day closure of bridge access roads in Fort Lee, claimed to other aides last year that he told Christie about the traffic problems while they were happening; the governor has insisted he never found out until after they were over.

Well, as they say in Jersey, “Chris Christie didn't do nuthin'!” On Thursday, the New Jersey governor's handpicked legal team cleared him of any wrongdoing in "Bridgegate" - the four-day traffic tie-up in Fort Lee, N.J., in September. The governor played no part in orchestrating the traffic nightmare, the report (which cost New Jersey taxpayers about $1 million) said. Instead, it faulted two Christie loyalists who basically, it found, went rogue. PHOTO ESSAY: Chris Christie, President Obama and the 'ignorance is bliss' dodge It also said that one of those rogues, David Wildstein, insisted that he had told Christie about the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge while they were happening.

The strategy of Tesla Motors to sell its electric Model S sports sedan through company-owned stores took a hit this week when New Jersey required that autos sold in the state have to move through a middleman, namely a dealer. At the urging of auto dealers, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission changed a rule Tuesday to require a franchise license to sell new cars in the state. Tesla has two company owned stores in New Jersey stores -- in Short Hills and Paramus -- that were operating under different licenses.

POMONA, N.J. - His state wrecked and reeling from Superstorm Sandy, Chris Christie made himself the face of New Jersey's comeback effort with a take-charge tour de force that became a cornerstone of an expected run for president. But the made-for-campaign-ads story of resurrection is now riddled with failures: poor performance by contractors, accusations of insider deals and increasing frustration from homeowners still waiting for recovery funds. In the aftermath of the George Washington Bridge scandal, Gov. Christie and top members of his administration also face questions about whether he and his aides used disaster relief funds to reward friends and punish enemies.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - Gov. Chris Christie arrived at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday at one of the most difficult moments of his political career: The investigations into his administration's mammoth traffic jam continue, his poll numbers have plunged, and the socially conservative GOP voters who dominate this gathering have always been his biggest hurdle in a potential quest for the presidency. But with surprisingly expansive comments on his opposition to abortion, the New Jersey governor drew a warm reception before a group that did not even invite him last year, a slight ascribed to organizers' criticism of his conservative credentials.

None of the guests on Sunday's morning talk shows could say whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will give it a go and make a bid for the GOP presidential nomination. Sen. John McCain of Arizona said that although Christie would be a “very viable candidate,” he would be “starting from way behind in fundraising and organization and other areas.” McCain, the Republican nominee in 2008, sounded another note of caution. “The swimming pool looks a lot better until you jump right in,” he said.

TRENTON, N.J. -- In the mysterious political grudge-fest that spawned the George Washington Bridge traffic pileup, a new object of ire has emerged: a New Jersey rabbi. A newly released version of a text exchange between David Wildstein and Bridget Anne Kelly, two key figures in the bridge scandal, shows them exchanging barbed jokes about Rabbi Mendy Carlebach of the Chabad of North and South Brunswick - and chaplain to the Police Department at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the bridges.

February 20, 2014 | By Mark Z. Barabak, This post has been corrected. See the note at the bottom for details.

Another incriminating cache of emails, another Republican governor facing harsh questions and once more the hounds of political scandal are in full cry. There are, however, important differences between the controversies surrounding Wisconsin's Scott Walker and New Jersey's Chris Christie, which matter as both weigh potential 2016 campaigns for president. On Wednesday, Wisconsin investigators released thousands of pages of documents regarding public employees doing inappropriate political work for Walker when he was Milwaukee County executive, before his 2010 election as governor.